Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Damaged buildings line a street in the besieged area of Homs

An Australian activist with first-hand experience of the horrors of the Syrian civil war is warning fellow Australians against travelling to the country, whatever their motivations.

Brisbane man Yehya El-Kholed, who recently returned from his third trip in two years to the war-torn country, has close family ties in Syria and Lebanon, and supports the overthrow of the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

But relentless bloodshed, daily air raids on civilian areas around Aleppo and, most significantly, the descent into chaos and infighting by anti-Assad forces, have left him disillusioned.

"My advice to Australians is do not go to Syria ... because you're going to get killed," he said.

"They're killing Westerners. Free Syrian Army will kill them thinking they're ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant), and ISIS will kill them thinking they're Free Syrian Army.